Desperation
by Redsquadron
Summary: The Trust stole everything from me, taking away all that I knew. They followed my escape into this place, and have begun torching it... searching for me, to make me pay for what I'd done to them. With my back to the wall, and nowhere left to run, I have only just begun understanding the meaning of 'Desperation.' [male SI/OC as Naruto, Dark, increasingly AU]
1. Chapter 1

**_Here for yaoi? Look elsewhere_. **

...

**AN:** The story is going to become increasingly AU and dark, as some extremely hostile forces will provide an intervention for the Naruto universe.

This story is directly related to my 'Falling fast' fic, and Ragnarok (which really really needs work done on it), as the Trust is the true enemy of the series. For more backstory, reading these (except for the currently badly written Ragnarok fic) may help you understand, once the chapters begin to start flowing.

**By the way, this is only the prologue. Chapters will be about 3500-5k words in length. **

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><p>...<p>

**PROLOGUE**

...

**Valkyrie**

...

* * *

><p>Desperation.<p>

Desperation is one of the leading causes for human innovation throughout a war, for fear of death can influence one man to such great lengths that he will go far to protect his family.

Desperation.

To do what needs to be done to keep the people you love safe. To protect the societal standard, and to keep all that you know and care for unharmed.

Desperation.

Spawns creativity in the face of death and destruction.

These people... The Trust. They make many people desperate.

Despite being a top secret, semi-legitimate organization that has ties all across the world, they continue to instill fear into the hearts of the people of all nations, as they operate under the lawless structure of corrupt government agendas, and greed.

They have gone any length to reach their needs, and will even tear the planet apart just to get that extra billion.

Desperation is what I am acting upon, to make sure that they never get to the point in which they will be able to simply go back in time, and just change history forever in their favor.

Sometimes even fixed points of time can be torn from the face of reality. 'Cause, fuck it. If I fail, I'll drag them to hell with me.

...

"Jerry! Run! I got it from here," I shouted, working furiously on the controls at hand. A loud humming droned throughout the room, the wormhole just barely drowning out the hiss of the plasma cutters at the blast doors.

Jerry nodded, before diving head first into the mass of exotic energy, disappearing in a flash. I continued working, trying to keep the portal stable; I had to get through it as well.

But of course, nothing works as planned.

"Warning!" A cheerful voice beeped up at me, catching my attention. "Lab containment breached, power capacitors down to ten percent. Self destruct imminent. Shut down imminent." Nope, not going to happen.

I watched the computer for a bit longer, watching the systems diagnostics. Damnit! They must be trying to drain the power, to keep me from escaping. Not if I can help it. I tapped on the console for a few seconds more, before hearing the computer beep at me once more.

"Warning! Arcturus-Naquada Core reaching critical in T -30 seconds. Containment breached. Infiltrating entities recognized; safety shut down canceled. Power capacity at 999x10e6%." There. Now that the safeties were shut down, the portal was going to expand like planned, destroying the base, itself, and the Trust. All of it. It was either now or never; I had to escape.

I grabbed my stuff, before jumping over the ledge of the observatory. I landed hard, hearing a loud snap as I hit the ground.

"Augh!" I grunted, feeling the shattered bone grinding against itself with every step I took. My ankle! I looked ahead, seeing the portal waver slightly. This was supposed to take us to the surface, considering the Trust would never allow us to escape from a base this big after destroying something so valuable. The portal was set to go unstable, and consume the base, including itself once the core reached critical. Escape would have been impossible any other way anyways.

If I ever wanted to see my family again, I had to get out of here.

Considering that the observation platform was about thirty feet up, I'm not surprised that I broke my ankle.

The loudspeakers crackled overhead, alerting the whole base of the situation. "Core destabilization imminent. Capacitor overload in Ten."

I ran, ignoring the jarring pain in my leg. Man, I was going to be feeling this later... If this all worked out correctly, I'll be on the surface, a few hundred miles away. Anything after the core went critical would be sent to an empty void universe.

"Nine."

A chunk of the blast doors slammed into the ground, the plasma cutters having done their job. A crowd of heavily armed Trust agents flooded into the room, scanning every inch of every detail that they could see. It wasn't long before they spotted me. "There! I see him, don't let the hostile flee! Fire at will!" Immediately, bullets flew my way, each somehow missing. Looks like luck was with me today.

"Eight."

I had to escape. These people were monsters... This machine... I couldn't let them have it. This was something too dangerous for the likes of this semi-legitimate company to hold.

Hell, the Arcturus alone could blow up the solar system. Hopefully the portal would consume it with the rest of the base before that happened.

Suddenly, I felt as if someone had poked me real hard in the back, about five times. Feeling my back with a hand, I quickly realized that I was bleeding... Immediately, I felt weakened, but I didn't collapse.

My existence relied on my persistence, and my desperation.

I had to escape.

These people will kill us all.

I'm going to die.

We will all die.

I collapsed, just a few inches short of the portal. The expanding wormhole bulged like an angry monster, it's blindingly brilliant blue light intensifying with each pulse as if it were a massive creature, prepared to be let loose onto everything around it. With every second I wasted, the portal was becoming more and more unstable. I tried to stand up again, only to find that my legs weren't working anymore. The Trust agents were walking forwards, guns pointed at me.

I scrambled as fast as I could, despite the feeling of tearing tissue erupting all across my body.

Until, someone put a foot into the back of my head, pinning me down. "Command, situation is clear. Hostile has been neutralized. We have a single escapee," the soldier spat into his radio, staring down at me.

"It was a good shot, bub. Too bad you didn't make it," he smiled, apparently unaware that he and everyone else in the base was about to die.

I coughed, spitting up blood, and a chunk of something else. "I could say the same for you," I said with a rasp, my breathing escaping slowly with a rattle. Looks like I was shot in the lungs.

I smiled, ignoring the blood that seemed to gush down my throat. It was a wonder that I wasn't drowning in it. The soldier looked up at the portal with a horrified look, gaping with a horrified realization as he watched it expand slowly.

"Uh- w-we need a scientist in here, now! The portal's going unstable! Shut down the power!" He shouted, not moving from his spot over me. He stood frozen, as if out of fear.

"Zero." And then everything exploded.

I tried to laugh, feeling victorious. The problem was that I only felt pain. I watched calmly as the wormhole gradually expanded, knowing that a scientist would never be able to arrive here on time. With the transport system in gridlock, nobody would be able to escape. Nobody would make it out alive, including me.

Explosions erupted all around me, the capacitors popping one by one like kernale of shrapnel.

Time slowed as the portal expanded, competing with the explosion of both the Arcturus, and the capacitors. I knew seeing such a thing was impossible, as this was taking place at the speed of light. Seeing the base erupt all around me in slow motion was the most glorious thing that I had ever seen, the time dilation device that held the portal's expansion in place having gone haywire.

As if it mattered, anyways.

I was the first to be consumed by the portal, the floating water-like orb consuming me in a flash. I...

I can't even explain what I was seeing. The only words that could possibly explain what I saw...

Super nova.

...

A.N.

more will come soon; but school and stuff is making it hard for me to work fast. just to key you in on what's going on, I'd been busy being forced to read 120 pages in three days, having to write a 5 pages essay (no quotes, fillers or any general BS; a focus on details and events described, etc.)

I also need to take notes, along with reading some stupid packet about politics, even though it's all just for English.


	2. Chapter 2

1N2

**AN**: I dont like what I'd done with this chapter so far, considering I hate writing about the academy.

As as for why Sakura is acting quite AU? This is the first day of the academy, nobody knows who Naruto is (except for the older kids, and the adults.) Sakura (and the other girls) doesn't become obsessed with Sasuke until after he turns into the emo-esque kid that we see in the anime.

Sakura isn't going to really be a peer to 'Naruto' anyways, considering how the OC's just pushing her away.

* * *

><p>...<br>Chapter two

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Descent into the Abyss

...

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><p><strong>Subject: RETRACTED<br>Service cereal number: SO12 532 998  
>Subject: SG UNIT -27<br>Status: M.I.A.  
>Mission status: NO DATA<strong>  
>...<p>

"...Naruto!"

I lay there, staring into the darkened wood pattern in front of me, as if I had been doing so for a lifetime. I blinked, not remembering when I had got here, into this dark place. And... Naruto? What kind of name was that?

"Naruto! Wake up!"

I am so cold... So alone. I had been in that void for what felt like an infinity, the nothingness gnawing away at me like a rabid animal. I... My wife needs me. My kids... I need to get home-

"Naruto! Uzumaki!" The shouted had become much louder, as it sounded almost as if the source were right in front of me.

I was wide awake by now, my mind whirling madly.

I had gone through an unstable portal.

"Wake up!"

I was doomed. If any of the Trust had made it here as I had, then... this is all my fault. We were all doomed. The terrors of technology give the Trust a crutch that will allow them to adapt to any foe, and destroy any enemy.

Not even time can stop them.

Whoever had been shouting in front of me apparently had enough with the lack of any response from this 'Naruto,' causing him to slam his hands onto the table in rage. I jumped back in shock, sitting straight up in my seat. It looks like I was the 'Naruto' who had been sleeping.

Since when was I ever called by the name of 'Naruto?' I'm pretty damn sure I know my own identity.

Immediately, I observed the room that I was in, recognizing what appeared to be a classroom of sorts, though one that you would expect to see in a college. The white wash walls spanned high into the air, giving the room a spacious feel. The second thing that I noticed was the fact that the whole room was filled with children who were all staring at me, snickering just loud enough that I could just barely hear them if I listened hard enough.

I looked back towards the man towering in front of me, squinting at him as he glared back at me.

"Naruto! If you want to sleep through your classes at the academy, your first day in specific, then I suggest you leave and go sleep at home. Otherwise..." I just stared up at him with a deadpan expression, my enthusiasm overflowing. I had no way of handling this... I had no idea where I was, or how I had got here.

How?...

I thought back, memories of my past quickly coming back to me. The wormhole... having stopped the trust... Hopefully.

This was all like a bad dream. Like a fever dream. I was in the worst possible situation; I had gone through an unstable wormhole. I know I'm just repeating myself by now, but this was important.

These wormholes can take you anywhere, any place, blah blah blah. What's important is that in some cases, the wormhole can take you to any sort of distorted universe so distant to my native reality, that they can be worse than hell, causing those who manage to get trapped there an infinitely lasting eternity of pain, torture, and so forth. Since this is the multiverse, I could land in any situation that anyone could think up, and beyond.

Hopefully by chance, I had landed in a universe with a stable society, where people don't kill one another by the hour, and a technological community, hopefully at a post-industrial revolution level.

If this isn't the case, then any form of contributions of advanced knowledge from my life could either ascend me to an Albert Einstein level, or I could descend me into the title of blasphemy. It all depended on what sort of society I was in.

"Since you'd been sleeping for the first half of the class, I'll reintroduce myself. My name is Iruka Umino, but you may call me 'Sensei,'" my teacher continued, before before walking to his desk and returning with a few textbooks.

"I am expecting you to read these, and follow along with the class," Iruka explained, placing the books onto my desk. I read the covers for a few, bewildered at what I was reading... "The Ninja's book to deadly stealth," and "coloring with kunai," and... Well.

What kind of shit did I get myself into?  
>...<p>

The Major awoke with a groan, quickly jumping to his feet as he scanned his new surroundings. Finding himself deep inside a forest, he had to turn on his flashlight just to see his surroundings. Immediately, he noticed his various squad members scattered all around him, all appearing to be unharmed.

"Squad!" He hissed into his headset, hoping to wake them up, without making too much noise. Catching unwanted attention in an unknown universe was something that you did not want, especially since anything can happen. This whole planet could be occupied with a number of replicating parasites, physics bending monsters, and so forth. Hopefully, the shields that came standard with his armor would keep him safe, at least until the power ran out.

"Squad! Give me a sitrep!" He whispered harshly once again, flashing the flashlight at the supposedly retired ex-marines that his squad consisted of; even kicking a few in the gut.

"Ough... But mom, I don't wanna go to school..." One of the grunts groaned, rolling over into a small pool of mud.

"Shut up, Parker. Help me get the others awake," the Major instructed, lifting Parker from the mud and onto his feet, before moving onto the other men in his squad.

"Hey Parker, mind giving me a hand in waking these guys up?"  
>...<p>

Before long, both the Major's squad, and a few others had assembled silently in the darkness of the deep forest.

"Do we have a combat engineer with us?" The major called out, his voice echoing loudly over the silence of his platoon, and the thick forest.

Last few minutes passed, before someone answered. "I uh, I'm a CE," called out a soldier, as he walked out from the small crowd of armed ex-Marines.

The major recognized the Combat Engineer's patch on his shoulder with a quick glance, causing him to feel some relief. "Good! Come over here, I need to talk with you." The CE nodded, following the major a bit always from the basic camp that had so far been set up; this was a private discussion, and he didn't want the others to hear about this.

"Do you happen... to have your assembler with you?" The Major hoped that the CE had actually carried his assembler with him during the 'event,' as their survival revolved off the very chance that there was at least a single CE among the mess of soldiers who had managed to get pulled into the universe, and happened to be carrying an assembler that happened to have a fully library.

"I-uh, yes sir," the private pulled his pack off of his shoulders, setting it onto the ground. After rummaging through the bag for a bit, he eventually produced a laptop sized machine, holding it out in front of him.

"Fantastic! Do you have the full library?" The private rummaged through his bag once more, before pulling out a small case filled with crystal-like objects.

"The assembler's too small to build a portal to get home, if that's what you're planning," the CE explained, observing the machine's hologram as he scanned through the directory. "Just... not enough power to generate the 'exotic' metals, like Naq, or whatever."

"Ah." The Major grumbled to himself, sighing before once again returning to the CE. "Can we build another larger assembler that could be capable of building us a portal?"

"Uh.. Yeah, if we managed to set up a power array, before the assembler we currently have runs out of juice."

"Would you be able to make a small clearing here, and set up the panels that we need, and still have enough power to build a small camp for our men?" Asked the major once more, feeling as though their stay here might be a long one.

"I can do that, yeah." A moment later, a few of the trees flashed into a blinding blue-white light, before turning into energy, and teleporting into the assembler. Less than three seconds later, five solar panels occupied a large portion of the now empty land where the trees had previously been, fueling the assembler with a fresh supply of power.

"Now for the camp? Just standard forest camo would be enough for now, I suppose. We can always add the shield-dome later," the major ordered, the CE only nodding silently in response.  
>...<p>

The Academy was a strange place.

For the most part, we spent quite a bit of our time jabbering about some sort of energy called 'chakra,' claiming that it allowed us to do a wide range of things... like making intangible clones, to spitting out energies of the various elements all around and about the battlefield.

Quite impressive, since they didn't even use any technology to make it happen.

Even though it was only the first day, I had already made a terrible first impression of myself on the other kids. Having slept through the first portion of the day really had an effect in my social status among the other students, as almost immediately people began to avoid me.

Not that it mattered, anyways.

It's not like I'd gain much by gathering a small following of children, and I doubt that they'd even understand how I had come to replace this 'Naruto' kid.

Regardless, this Chakra energy seems like an interesting tool that I should try to utilize some time in the future. But... What about the future of my own world?

If the trust had managed to end up here, as I had...

The teacher finally stopped talking, just moments before the bell rang. "Make sure not to run too far from the academy during lunch," Iruka stated, as he grabbed a few things off from his desk. " if you run off, you might get in trouble."

just before the mob of excited children overwhelmed him, Iruka took a step to the side, moving to the other side of the room in a blink of an eye. The other kids didn't seem to care much, as they were busy dealing talking with their new friends, as they gathered their lunches, and walked outside to eat.

I just stared in awe for a bit, before recovering, and taking my first steps in this strange universe.

I was far... far from home, and there was a small chance that I had actually managed to bring the worst danger of my universe to this place. While I had wanted to get rid of the Trust, there was one thing about them that made them so dangerous: their zealous use of the Assembler.

If a single one survived, a single trust member could practically build a city powered seemingly by nothing other than MK2ASG solar panels, all built from a single assembler.

Weapons that can crack worlds in half can be build in a snap of the fingers, and whole planets can be stripped apart, and converted into energy, desintregrating everything and everyone immediately before turning them to dust, and then energy.

... As I'd said already before, I'm a long way from home.

I can sort of gauge how far I am from my home universe by just observing how different this world is from my own- so far, my chances of escape back home looked more grim than ever.

On top of that, none of the landscape even resembles the Earth I'm from, other than some sort of Rushmore look-a-like, that's covered in faces of people I don't recognize.

I watched with some curiosity, as Iruka did a quick polite gesture of goodbye to me, before disappearing in a flash of smoke and leaves. Yeah, my peers just... explode into dust and leaves every day, you know? God, I'm never going to get home.

I eventually resolved to joining up with the other kids- I honestly had no other choice.

I don't belong here... On top of that, it appears as though I'd taken over some kid's body, somehow. If anyone figured out that I was an imposter, I'd probably be killed.

I shrugged, before following the few students that had remained within the halls outside the classroom, and out of the school. What sort of Academy did they say this was? I looked all around me, before eventually spotting a sign above the entrance that spelt out; "ninja academy." Convenient.

All around the landscape near the academy, various kids could be seen eating, and talking.

There were only a few other kids who didn't appear to have any friends yet, so I had to at least consider the chance of making an ally. Depending on how long I was going to be here for, long term relationships may become important later on.

I hate talking about relations like this, but it's the only way that I can learn how to not make myself a target for both the adults, and any potential hazards.

Regardless, friendships weren't all that important for my survival. Sure, they can lighten the mood and give you support, but ultimately they are just an accessory.

I've had many friends in my time, and more than half had either abandoned or betrayed me at one point or another, leaving me to myself.

Bah, whatever.

If I was going to end up doing this alone, then I should be expecting both some serious hardships, and depression.

I made my way towards a tree in the center of the courtyard, sitting down underneath in the cool shade. Lunch was rather uneventful, and I was left alone, and starving.  
>...<p>

"Say you're sorry!" The kid poked harshly at my forehead, accusingly.

I ignored the kid, an expressionless face being my only response. For the most part, I was powerless against the older kid, him being so much older than me.

"Do it! Beg for forgiveness!" He screamed in my face, before kicking one of my knees, followed by a punch to the face. Woah! Since when did children hit this hard?

Immediately, blood started pouring from my nose. The bully appeared to be a bit shocked by what he had done, but didn't appear to be finished just yet.

'Blood,' I observed, watching his every move. 'He doesn't like blood.'

"Baka! I want you to be sorry for looking me in the eyes!" He shouted at me once more, before punching me in the gut. By now, the various kids in the field had stopped their games, and were now watching. Some even appeared to be cheering, happy to see me getting my head bashed in.

There was something seriously wrong with this picture. What has this Naruto kid done?

"I'm not going to stop until you plead to me for forgiveness!" He swung his fist at me, just in time for some girl with pink hair to run to my front, taking the hit that was meant for me.

"Oww!" She cried, shocking the older kid, who reeled back in surprise. "It's not good to hurt people! What did he ever do to you?" She shouted out, mildly crying as she held her head in pain.

"Get out of my way, 'forehead!'" He shoved the girl out of the way, tossing her aside as if she were a torn piece of paper... The girl landed on her face, whimpering pitifully. The kid stopped short of hitting me once more, appearing to be teared up. "Don't you know who this kid is?" The kid shouted down at Sakura, before turning back to me.

"I-if it weren't for you, my parents... My parents would still be alive! You scum, you have no right to look anyone in the eyes!" The kid swung again, this time missing. I took advantage of this, rubbing my hands in the blood from my nose, before smearing it all over the older kid's face.

"B-b...b...Baaah!" The kid cried out, as he tried to while the blood from his face, only smearing it in the process. I ran up to him, this time making a move of my own. I kicked the kid in the crotch, causing him to squeal in pain, knocking him off his feet. I shook my head in disgust as I wiped the snot and blood onto my coat sleeve, before turning away, walking off in the opposite direction.

"Hey... Hey!" Shouted a voice from behind, startling me. I looked over my shoulder, spotting the pink haired girl as she chased after me.

"What's up?" I asked, as if nothing were wrong. She just gawked at me, giving me a look of shock.

"You're bleeding all over! And aren't you going to thank me for trying to help you?" She cried out, looking a bit lost as to what to say.

"Yeah, uhh.. Thanks. As for the blood, head wounds tend to bleed a lot..." This was hardly a lot of blood, but I guess this is the most she's ever seen someone bleed, considering she's only been alive for at least a third of the time that I have been.

The girl remained silent for a bit, as she looked down at the ground in what appeared to be empathy. No, I don't need your empathy for a few hits to the face and gut; if only you knew how dangerous my situation was right now...

"My name is Sakura," said the girl after a bit of silence, trailing a bit behind me as I made my way back towards the Academy.

"That's nice," I responded, trying to sound indifferent. But in all honesty, I felt a combination of general irritation, exhaustion, and sadness. If I could, I'd be crying right now.

Back in my old world, she wouldn't make it a day if she were seen with me. My job required me to work alone, and so-help-me god, if someone were caught associating with me, they'd be captured and tortured for what could be weeks, before their memories are reset, and they have no remembrance of my existence at all. They were persistent in making sure information was not being spoken except by other scientists, to other scientists.

All because of the trust. They did this to my family, threatening to crush them from existence until they're just a fine powder... That is, if I resisted. That was why my destruction of the Trust had to be complete.

There was no other option.

Many of my friends only managed to exist through the levels that were allowed through the Trust's 'companion foundation.' They usually put you with people who you didn't work well with, 'to improve your social skills,' but more likely to prevent you from making a successful uprising.

Regardless, I never joined the Trust with the intention of helping it.

The girl was taken back a bit by the lack of social acceptance, but kept at it regardless. "What's your name?" She asked, walking in front of me, as if in attempt to either slow me, or stop me.

"My name's... Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki." ... I think, anyways. That's what Iruka called me, I'm pretty sure.

Sakura just looked up at up at me with a bit of recognition in her face, a look of spite starting to creep across her face.

...

Lunch ended shortly afterwords, and I received no mention from the teachers of the rather bloody fight between me and the kid. I continued on through the lessons of the first day, receiving the basics, before eventually being released back out into the wild.

My only problem was that my point of origin was the inside of a classroom in some sort of ridiculous academy for teaching children how to kill other people. I had no idea who my parents of this universe were, or where I lived, if I were supposed to walk home, or crawl into the nearest dumpster and sleep there.

Many of the other kid's parents did arrive, though-I received dirty glance after glance from the various adults who passed my way, each almost as bad as the last. Somehow, I was getting the vibe that this 'Naruto' kid has had either done something incredibly terrible to gain him such recognition throughout the town; or that I now resided within the body of a child-criminal.

I ignored them for now, their looks meaningless to me. I personally hadn't done anything wrong, well, not yet.

Whatever the heck their problem was, it wasn't my own.

Hours passed as student after student was picked up by their parents, before I was left alone to myself, standing in front of the Academy. I remained there for maybe an hour or two longer, silently watching as the sun set beyond the horizon.

This new world already felt worse than the previous due to the consistent amount of death, and the apparent need to have super high walls for no real explanation, other than the idea that they were keeping out something big.

I wandered through the twisting roads of 'Konoha,' the roads largely empty. For what appeared to be a usually busy city, it was extremely lonely and quiet. Quite coincidental, considering the past half of my life was spent being forced to work all day everyday for a bunch of assholes who only wished to flay their workers alive- for fun...

Those people deserved to die.

I don't care if families will be lost, but it's always best to save as many lives as you can, even if others have to be sacreficed for their continued survival. As terrible as my actions were, my intentions were for the best.

Only time will tell if the Trust will bring their conflict here instead, though.

Once that happens, the world will be drained of its resources, the food supply removed, and all populations massacred; for this is the true beginning of the end, you can trust me on that.

...

AN:

this chapter may be a bit short, but trust me, you'll have more to read once the plot starts rolling. I hate this academy part of the story (id re-written this twice now), and it's really boring to write; it's bassically talking about gradeschool. Sure it's a novelty for the first few days, but eventually it gets to become the true grind of the century. It's not really mentally challenging at all (well, in the fic's case, I guess the ninjutus's and combat could be hard to learn), and everyone knows about it, and doesn't want to talk about it.

Oh, and sorry for taking so long to come out with this. School and stuff's been tearing me apart.

Have any tips, suggestions, ideas, questions, thoughts, or comments? Post a review, and I will most likely reply shortly after. **Thank** **you for your support**.


	3. Chapter 3

1N3

**AN**: well, I messed up. I went a bt crazy with this chapter, and now it looks like a wonderful concoction of...

Re-writing chap, no rushing this fast too soon.

Chapter is being re-written with constant updates, with every new addition Being uploaded.

...

Chapter three

...

"When the world went to hell in a hand basket."

...

* * *

><p>My eyes flipped open like a set of blinders, dragging me from my dreams... and back into reality. I sat up, surprised to find myself in a bed, let alone an apartment. I yawned, just before a foul smell became apparent, greeting my senses.<p>

I was saddened to find that this wasn't all just a bad dream. 'The lab,' the place that I worked at- there were a few all around the planet. As corny as the name was, they held everything secret. It was almost funny at times, but... No worries. Maybe my attempts to save my family were for naught, but-I did it, for my country. For the world.

Mold plagued the walls, and trash was strewn all over the place. Heck, when did I get here? Last thing I remember, I was just wandering around the village at what could be assumed as midnight, exhausted. Nobody had came to pick me up from the academy, and I was left to my own miseries with my past on the mind.

Whoever had brought me here had my thanks.

I got up from the bed, finding that I was still dressed in the exact same clothing that I had been wearing since yesterday-jacket included. Catching a whiff of the thing, I held back a gag. The thing smelt like rotten noodles... something like ramen, and another type of 'noodle,' if you catch my gist.

How did this kid not die from Ecoli, or from all the fungus? This amount should be deadly. At least I don't have any growing on me.

I just shook my head, as I brought my attention elsewhere.

On the ground in a bag lay the text books that I had been given from... the academy, along with something else. Leaning in closer, I noticed a small map amongst the mess of books, pulling it out.

"Academy map," I read aloud, looking over the image with some curiosity. It seemed as though someone had highlighted a set of directions within the tangle of roads, leaving a clear path to what appeared to be the academy. The bottom of the piece of paper displayed an odd signature, signed, 'A.N.B.U.' and something about a 'Hokage.' I didn't know what to make of it, so I ignored it.

Giving the map one last good look before I put it away, I quickly noticed a time written out next to what I assumed to be the school on the map; accompanied with a small description.

"Class starts at 6 am." I looked over at the alarm clock next to the bed, seeing that it read: 7:10.

Hell, if that's the time class starts at, then I'm late.

I grabbed my bag of 'ninja academy' stuff, and made a break for the school. Might as well go, since I'm signed up. No harm in getting some free training on this chakra stuff.

...

I ran towards the school, all the while Thinking about the odd signatures on the map.

ANBU. Sounds kind of ominous.

I have no idea what it stands for, but I could guess-it sort of sounds like some sort of task force... Though, why they are helping me is beyond my understanding.

If anyone else knew about them, or what they did in general, then I might get an idea on what's going on. Considering I'm not all that unfamiliar with agencies like this, I'm already beginning to get an idea what may be going on.

That is, if these guys really are some sort of agency.

I looked down at the map, seeing that my rout has come to an end. Looking ahead of myself, I saw what appeared to be the academy from yesterday. I sprinted inside and down the halls, before slamming into the classroom that I had occupied only a day before.

Well, that is if I memorized correctly.

Iruka glared at me as I stood in the doorway, appearing slightly aggravated that I had only just arrived now.

I cleared my throat, breaking the silence that had overcome us, short of the vague giggling of the other students throughout the room. "Hi," I greeted, speaking in a sarcastic tone to incite a response.

"Sit," Iruka said simply, pointing towards the last empty seat, next to a girl in pink hair, and a kid who appeared to have a greasy, tar colored miniature mount-Everest on his head.

I sat down, remaining silent.

Well, until 'pinky' spoke to me. "Hey, Naruto!" The girl whispered to me, silently. I didn't hear her right away, but eventually noticed her.

"What's up?" I responded, after she'd caught my attention.

"I... I never really got to thank you formally for what you did, hitting that bully..." She trailed off, appearing quite timid.

"Oh yeah, you're that sakura girl from yesterday," I recognized, bringing back the memory of the beating I'd received. Considering how much I had been hit, I should be practically covered in bruises by now. Oddly enough, I wasn't.

"If anything, I should be the one thanking you, since you were the one to jump in, and confront the as-bully," I continued, running a hand through my blonde hair. It was an odd contrast from my original brown, but it didn't matter much to me. It was just another shard of my true self, gone forever.

"Naruto! Pay attention!" Shouted Iruka, startling both me and Sakura a bit. He then subsequently turned around, resuming the basic math lesson.

"Class, what happens when you put one Kunai with another?"

"You get two!" Shouted some of the kids aloud, frustrating some of the more patient students who had actually raised their hands to be called upon.

"What happens when you put TWO shuriken..." It wasn't long before the teacher had lost my attention. This pre-school level education is rather boring, especially when you spend most of your days acting as a scientist.

You know, as if the job's nothing special. Don't do what I did with my career, it sucks. I never get to see my kid.

I try to be competent... but hey, I'm not perfect. If I were, I wouldn't have made the mistake that got me here in the first place.

I'd been obsessing over the trust for the past two days now. While they may obviously be a threat, they may not even be here.

I took a relaxing deep breath, as I tried to 'cool it' a bit.

This was obviously not a dream; dreams only last a single REM cycle, before you head into the more inactive cycles of sleep. This existence, here... clearly has been longer than the 5-20 minute long dream span.

I'd always found it really interesting how the human mind is capable of creating near-complete simulations of reality.

...

Class finally ended after an hour or so of sitting through basic math, leading into what was essentially gym class.

Well, it wasn't called gym, but rather some sort of name that sounded like tai-jutsu. I wasn't listening, I guess.

The first thing we did when we arrived in the class was run.

...Runnin-runnin, and runnin-runnin, and runnin-runnin, and-

Before long, we were done. I happened to be the last to finish, as I was starting to get weak from hunger. I had eaten nothing for a day and a half now, and I had to find something to eat, soon.

But, a person can go a whole month without food. Right now, my immediate need was water.

This was a strange survival situation for me, arriving in this world. Nobody cared about me, or my wellbeing. I was nothing, and I would die nothing. Nobody would care. Because of this, I had to find a source of food and income all the bodily needs, before my time ran out.

Quite the depressing thought, but... it was the sad truth of my situation.

**-SNIP**

* * *

><p>Id initially had an idea for the plot, but it just didn't work. It was also quite possibly the worst decision that I have ever made, having essentially ruined the story.<p>

Thanks to a coffee overdose, no sleep for a day and a half, and tons of homework, I'd messed up the chapter quite terribly, and I owe it to you (despite the fact that I'm working for free to write this) to re-write it.

until it's done, I will be updating it over time, with every new addition being posted.


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